Beautiful Mess
by alb33
Summary: Fred and George use Hermione's kitchen for a prank product, resulting in a mess. But compared to the other messes Hermione's been in, this one's not so bad. Entry for the Twin Exchange June 2012 Challenge.


**A/N: This is my entry for the Twin Exchange June Challenge. **

**Pairing:** Hermione/Fred

**Prompt: **Peanut Butter, Nutella

**Quote: **"Remember that next time," and "I think I'm going to throw up."

**Don't forget to vote for your favorite entry on the Twin Exchange profile starting June 20th! :)**

* * *

"Hermione, we need a favor."

"Another one?" Hermione peered over the top of the stack of paperwork she was currently going through to see Fred and George standing before her wearing their magenta robes and identical grins.

"Yes, another one," Fred said, his smile never faltering.

"I've already agreed to help you sort through all this paperwork you were behind on. What else could you possibly need from me?"

"What can we say?" George shrugged. "We hate paperwork and there was quite an increase of it after the war what with all the repairs we needed to do and other things like that."

"Besides, if you're doing it for us, there's more of a chance that it will be done and done well," Fred added. "And we _are_ paying you for it."

Hermione sighed and stood up, dropping the stack of paper onto the table beside her. "I would have done it for free to be honest."

"Yeah?" Fred asked. When Hermione nodded, he smirked. "Well, in that case…"

Hermione shot him a look and he laughed. "So," she said briskly, leaning against the worktable and examining a nasty looking burn mark on the wood. "What was that favor you needed?" She looked up at them, expecting to hear that they needed her to stand out in the shop and demonstrate how a Puking Pastile worked. What she did hear, however, was not what she expected at all.

"We need to borrow the kitchen at your flat later," Fred said.

"My kitchen?" she asked. "What's wrong with yours?"

"Ours is under construction at the moment," Fred answered swiftly. "You know, a problem with the plumbing." He waved his hand dismissively.

"The sink down here in the workroom works fine," Hermione said, glancing at it.

"Which is the weird thing," Fred answered, widening his eyes as if to say _Isn't it crazy?_ "And we're also getting new tile. The old one wasn't working for us anymore."

"Okay," Hermione said slowly. "I suppose you can use my kitchen."

"Excellent," the twins said simultaneously. "We'll be over tonight at six."

"Tonight at six," Hermione repeated with a nod. "See you then."

"See you then," Fred said, pulling open the curtain that led back to the shop and letting George through first. Then, he looked over his shoulder at Hermione. "Oh, and Granger?"

"Yes?" she asked.

"Really, thanks for helping us out. We do appreciate it and it _is_ kind of nice having papers that aren't covered in mysterious product ingredients for once." He shot her a grin before disappearing. Hermione smiled softly, shaking her head and returning to the paperwork.

* * *

Hermione didn't know why she was so anxious. She was wandering around her flat, making sure everything was in its place and looked nice. It didn't even matter. They were only using her kitchen anyway, which hadn't needed any straightening out. It was already pristine.

On the other hand, maybe she did know why she was so anxious. She had been trying to deny those odd feelings for Fred for a while. Ever since six months after the war, to be exact. Six months after Ron had kissed her. After that kiss, they had spent the following six months in an awkward limbo of a relationship. She wasn't sure if they were dating, still just friends, or friends that liked each other but were taking their time. She could never seem to get an answer out of him either. Then he had told her that while he had liked her, he just wasn't sure if he was truly ready for a relationship and that when they had kissed, he hadn't really felt anything.

Of course Hermione had been offended at first, storming out the yard and taking a seat under the oak tree. Naturally, she had begun to analyze every aspect of their relationship, the kiss and what Ron had told her. She had come to the conclusion that the kiss had happened due to adrenaline and the prospect that they could die at any second. She had also decided that Ron had been right. He probably wasn't ready for a relationship. At least not with her. And that was actually okay. When she really thought about it, there hadn't been that much of a spark for her either.

Fred had come in to the equation when he had come out to the yard to check up on her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, lowering himself to the ground beside her. "I heard what happened."

"You did? How?"

"I was in the house," Fred said slowly. "George and I could hear you two loud and clear. _Without_ Extendable Ears."

Hermione sighed. "Well, I'm okay now. I thought about it, and everything is completely…fine." She nodded her head once and looked at Fred as if expecting him to challenge that.

"Okay," he said, shrugging. "You know, this is the first time I've seen you act fine about something that happened between you and Ron."

"I thought about it," she began.

"Of course you did," Fred chuckled.

Hermione shot him a look. "And I came to the conclusion that I'm just so sick of complications. It's not going to work out between me and Ron. It's okay if he's not ready for a relationship. I can't force him to be, so instead I'm moving on."

"I think it's good that you realized all of this. Complications are never fun. I've always known this."

"Of course you have," she said.

Fred laughed and nudged her. "It'll be okay. It really will. You'll find someone. Someone who isn't complicated and will just be open with you and not wait six months to tell you there was no spark. Honestly, the communication skills of that boy are so terrible, it's almost remarkable."

Hermione laughed. "Very true."

Fred smiled. "Hey, by the way. I don't know if this is the best time to ask you, but George and I need a favor. We've been swamped with paperwork at the shop since the war ended and it's hard to juggle it all right now. We were wondering if you'd like to help us with it. You're the most organized out of everyone we know. It'd only be temporary. You know, until the amount of paperwork goes back to normal. And we'd pay you, as well, so—,"

"I'll do it," Hermione said, nodding.

"Really?" Fred asked, surprised.

Hermione nodded again.

"I didn't think you'd want to work around two immature twins who test products on first years." He smirked at her.

Hermione laughed. "While I don't think we always see eye to eye, you've always been nice to me and the things you and George have invented are really brilliant and take a lot of work and brainpower."

"Why, thank you, Granger," Fred said. "I'm so flattered. That was a lovely compliment."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "When do I start?"

"Tomorrow at eight?"

"Tomorrow at eight," she repeated.

"Be there on time," Fred teased, standing up, "or I'll fire you."

"I'll _try_ to be on time for once. I know I have such a habit of being late," she teased back. "What?" she asked, noticing Fred was giving her a strange look—an odd mix of surprise, pride and glee.

"Nothing," he said quietly. "See you tomorrow."

And that's how it had all began. That had been a month ago and Hermione hadn't been able to stop or even make sense of the quickly growing feelings for Fred. Now, as she stood in the middle of her living room, there was a knock on the door that made Hermione jump. She took a breath before walking calmly to the door and opening it. "Hi," she said. "Come on in."

"Wow, Hermione," Fred said, looking around. "Are you sure you _live_ here?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's as neat as a pin," George said, his mouth hanging open.

"It looks as if you don't even use anything."

"Well," Hermione said defensively, "how can I when I spend so much time at your shop doing paperwork?" She pretended to be irritated.

"Did Granger just try to be funny?" Fred whispered to George, staring at Hermione wide eyed.

"I don't know. It's hard to tell," George replied.

"Yes, it was a joke!" Hermione said, laughing exasperatedly.

"She might be sick," George said.

"I'd check to see if you have a fever, Hermione," Fred said, "but my hands are currently full."

"Oh!" Hermione finally noticed that both boys had their hands full with bags. "Yes, the kitchen's this way. Follow me."

She led them to her kitchen and gave them the basic rundown of where some things were.

"Where's the blender?" Fred asked, interrupting her mid-sentence.

"Here," Hermione said, gesturing to one of the cabinets above her head. She paused. "What exactly are you making?"

"We're not sure yet," Fred said.

"Is this how you always make dinners?"

"No," Fred said, looking at her with a confused look. He began unloading bags as George took out the blender.

"We're not making dinner," George said, taking the cover off the blender and plugging it in. He pulled out a jar of peanut butter and uncapped it before holding it out to Fred. "What do you think? This first?"

"Definitely," Fred nodded.

"Er, so what are you making?" Hermione asked.

"We're not sure," Fred said. "We told you."

Hermione didn't answer. She was confused to say the least.

"Hermione, what's Nut-la?" George asked.

"What?" she asked, somewhat irritably.

George had opened another cabinet and he pulled out a small jar. "This. What is it?"

"Oh, that's Nutella," Hermione said, crossing the room and taking the jar from him. She grabbed three spoons and opened the jar, scooping up a little onto each of the spoons. She held out one to Fred and one to George. "Taste it." She promptly ate the Nutella from her own spoon, smiling widely. "It's one of my favorite things to eat."

Fred sniffed his spoon hesitantly. "What is it, exactly?"

"Chocolate and hazelnuts," Hermione said. "Just try it. I promise you, it's delicious."

Fred and George hesitantly tried a tiny amount from the edge of their spoons. "Blimey, Hermione, you were right! This is great!" Fred said. He looked at George. "We have to use this."

"I agree," George said.

"Do you mind?" Fred asked, holding up the jar.

"No," she said slowly, "but can you please tell me what you're up to?"

"We're experimenting for a new product," George said. "Sometimes when we make certain products that can be eaten, we throw some foods together to figure out what tastes good. It helps us decide what we want the product to taste like."

"I see," Hermione said. "Well, I'll just leave you to it. You _are_ going to clean up later, aren't you?"

"Of course," George said.

"You're not going to stay here?" Fred asked.

"No, I'm going to go do my work in the next room. I do have my own job at the Ministry, you know."

Fred didn't answer right away, but he finally nodded. "Okay."

"Let me know if you need anything." With that, Hermione disappeared into the next room. She worked for another half an hour or so, until there was a loud noise and the sound of shouts from the kitchen. In a flash, she was at the doorway. The second she looked into the room, she wished she hadn't. The contents of the blender were splashed all across the appliances, walls, ceiling, and the twins.

"Hermione!" Fred said, noticing her. He looked scared knowing that she had seen the mess that now covered almost half the room.

"What happened?" she asked, trying to keep calm.

"Well, we finally finished putting everything we wanted into the blender and then we turned it on and this happened," Fred said, gesturing around the room.

"I think we did something wrong," George said, wiping the brownish goop from his eyes.

"Yes, you forgot to put the cover on the blender before you turned it on," Hermione said, frustrated.

"That's what we forgot!" Fred said, clapping a hand to his forehead.

"I assumed you knew how to use a blender," Hermione said. "Why didn't you say something?"

"We thought we knew," George said guiltily, "but it turns out we didn't."

"Well," she said, crossing the room to them, "you'll just have to remember that next time."

Fred smirked. "You're going to let us do this in your kitchen again?"

"I never said that," Hermione huffed. "I just meant the next time you decide to operate a blender. Now, why don't you two go get cleaned up. The bathroom's down the hallway and the first door on the left. I'll clean up and here and then you can get back to doing whatever it is you're doing. And please try to not make another mess. I'm serious. It reminds me of what my relationship with Ron was like."

Fred tried to hold back a laugh and ended up making a strange snorting sound.

"Of course," George said, bowing dramatically as he headed for the door, "no mess."

Hermione turned to face the mess, sighing. She tilted the blender towards her and looked at the remains of the brown, soupy mixture inside of it. "I think I'm going to throw up," she muttered.

"It's not as bad as you think, actually."

Hermione whirled around to see Fred standing behind her, licking the strange mixture off his finger. "You're still here," she said.

"I am," he answered, grinning.

"I thought you went with George."

"No, not yet." He paused. "Hermione, can I be honest with you?"

"Yes, alright," she said, setting the blender back on the counter.

"George and I aren't really repairing our kitchen."

"You aren't?" Hermione actually wasn't all that surprised. Instead, she was more curious as to why they had made that up.

"No," Fred said, shaking his head. "Our kitchen is fine. Everything works properly. It was my idea to make that story up and ask to use your kitchen. George just went along with it."

"Why?" she asked.

"Well, because he's a really good brother," Fred grinned. "I don't know what I'd do without him."

"No, I mean, why did you make something up to come over here?"

"Well," Fred said slowly, "the thing is that I really like seeing you. I've really enjoyed having you around during work and recently…" he trailed off and fiddled with his sleeve.

"Spit it out, Fred," Hermione said quietly, stepping closer. "You know I don't like complications." She half-smirked up at him.

A smile flickered across Fred's face. "Well, recently, I've been noticing you a lot more. In a different way than I used to. I was actually thinking of the best way to ask you out and in the meantime, I thought it wouldn't hurt to see you a little bit more."

"Seeing me every day while you were at work wasn't enough?"

"Oddly enough, no," Fred answered.

"What made you tell me this just now?"

Fred shrugged. "I remembered how annoyed you were with Ron when he was beating around the bush so I figured it would be a better approach if I just told you right out."

"Tell me what?" Hermione asked quietly. She smirked, getting somewhat of a kick out of making him sweat.

"Don't make this complicated," Fred smirked, his voice low as he stepped closer. "I think you know what I mean. I like you Hermione. A lot. And I'm hoping you'll want to give us a chance. Just because it didn't work out with Ron, doesn't mean it can't work out with me."

They were standing so close by now that their toes were almost touching. "You could have asked me right out," she whispered. "You didn't have to come over and make a mess of my kitchen first."

"Well I'm lucky you aren't too irritated, then." He paused. "Why is that, by the way?"

Hermione smiled, somewhat shyly. "I almost expected it, to be honest. Besides," she shrugged. "I kind of like you, too."

"Even if I'm covered in an odd peanut butter, Nutella and banana combination?"

"That's what's in it?" she asked. "You didn't add anything to make it gross?"

"Yeah, what did you think was in it? We have to make this stuff at least somewhat tasty," Fred laughed. "Like I said, we use it to figure out how we want our products to taste."

"Clever," Hermione said.

"Want to try some?"

"Why not?" Shrugging, she reached up to swipe some of the goop off of his cheek, but Fred grabbed her wrist.

"I have a better way," he said quietly.

"What do you-?" Hermione was silenced mid-sentence by Fred leaning forward and pressing his lips to hers. When she got over the initial surprise of being kissed, she began kissing him back and she came to the conclusion that kissing Fred was very, very different from kissing Ron. In a good way, of course.

"Well," she sighed when they pulled apart. "That certainly was a better way."

"So I'm guessing you enjoyed it," Fred smirked.

Hermione nodded, not sure if he was asking about the odd concoction he had been making or the kiss. Either way, she had quite enjoyed both. "There was a spark," she said after a pause. "Between you and me."

Fred nodded. "I know, I felt it. So, either you really like me and this is meant to be, or I'm just a hell of a better kisser than Ron."

"Both, I think," Hermione said with a shy giggle.

Fred laughed. "Excellent. By the way, sorry I'm still such a mess. I got you a little messy, too." He wiped some of his surprisingly tasty invention off her face.

"It's okay. I actually don't mind this mess. This time, it's a nice mess."

"Hermione, I thought you were going to clean the—oh." George had appeared in the doorway and was looking at them with a grin on his newly cleaned face. His shirt and hair were still dirty, though and Hermione almost giggled again at the sight.

"A lot's been happening since you left, Georgie. This is what happens when you leave the room. You miss things."

"This wouldn't have happened if I hadn't left!" George argued. "You have me to thank for this."

"No, I don't think so," Fred said. "Now, why don't you clean this up?"

"Why me?"

"You don't have to," Hermione said. "I can take care of this in just a second." She waved her wand and the mess disappeared almost instantly.

"Ah, well, you _were_ always the best at cleaning spells," Fred said, grinning.

"Is that why you're trying to keep me around?" Hermione teased.

"You caught me," Fred laughed.

"Fred, we're going to have to finish this," George said, stepping over to the blender. "We practically have to start from scratch since most of it ended up on the ceiling…and on us."

"Wonderful," Hermione sighed, trying to hide her smirk. "That means you'll be here longer."

"Don't act like you wouldn't like that," Fred muttered, brushing his lips across hers again, "because that would mean that you wouldn't like going out to dinner with me Saturday night."

"I would actually like that very much," she said. "As long as you aren't planning to cook anything yourself." She looked at his messy face, hair, and clothes.

"You mean you'd rather have normal, safe, edible food cooked by someone else over some ingredients thrown into a blender?" Fred pretended to look shocked.

"I know. How terribly abnormal that is," Hermione teased.

"So, where would you like to go?" he asked, taking her hand and swinging it back and forth.

She shrugged. "I don't mind."

"You should pick the place. As thanks for letting us use your kitchen and an apology for making a mess."

"You don't have to let me pick," Hermione said.

"Yes, I do," he argued.

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do."

"Don't make this complicated, Fred," she said, poking him in the chest and grinning.

"I'm not. You are," he teased.

She laughed and rolled her eyes. "Great, now _I'm _the complicated one."

"If you two don't shut up now," George muttered, "I'm going to dump the rest of this on your heads." He shook the blender threateningly.

"You wouldn't," Hermione gasped.

George lunged at them and Fred quickly ushered Hermione out of the room. "Go, go, go!"

"Not inside, George!" Hermione squealed as she made a dash for the back door. Just as she reached it and threw it open, George tossed the contents of the blender at her and Fred, most likely thinking the contents would hit them and sail outside in the process. It would have worked, had he moved a second earlier. Hermione and Fred made it outside and shut the door a split second before the brown contents of the blender splattered across it. Hermione stuck her head inside. "Clean it up," she said. With a grin, she waved and pulled the door shut, closing it with a click.

* * *

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